Uterus transplant in Cleveland offers new option to treat infertility

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Surgeons in Cleveland say they have performed the nation’s first uterus transplant, a new frontier that aims to give women who lack wombs a chance at pregnancy.

In a statement Thursday, the Cleveland Clinic said the nine-hour surgery was performed a day earlier on a 26-year-old woman, using a uterus from a deceased donor.

The hospital had long been planning for such a surgery, announcing last fall that it would attempt 10 such transplants in a clinical trial. The hospital said it wouldn’t release any more details about the transplant until a press conference next week.

The transplant is meant to be temporary, with the transplanted uterus removed after a successful surgery.

Other countries have tried womb transplants — and Sweden reported the first successful birth in 2014, with a total of five healthy babies so far.